Pakistan's ECC approves urea imports of 200,000t

Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) met on 7 May and has approved the import of 200,000t of urea for the Kharif summer season.

The ECC did not disclose an exact timeline, but a tender will have to be issued shortly if the imports are to meet demand in Kharif, which runs from April to September with demand peaking in June-July.

Pakistan occasionally enters the import market to plug supply gaps in key consumption periods. State-owned importer TCP previously agreed a deal with Azerbaijan's state-owned Socar in early December last year to source 200,000t of urea for arrival by 20 January.

Domestic supplier Engro began maintenance at its 1.3mn t/yr granular urea Enven plant towards the end of April and is expected to return to production in mid-June.

Pakistan's urea inventories started April at around 170,000t, but are set to be under significant pressure in June-July, data from the country's national fertilizer development centre (NFDC) show. Demand is set to hit over 800,000t in June and around 650,000t in July, outstripping typical domestic output of 520,000-555,000 t/month in the peak summer months. This has prompted the need for imports, given current stock levels.

By Harry Minihan